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Quidax
Techstars '20Toronto, CA · 1 known investors
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African-focused centralised cryptocurrency exchange, licensed by Nigeria's SEC, now shifting toward B2B crypto payments and infrastructure.
Also known as QDX · Quidax Technologies Limited
Investors · 1
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026Quidax is a centralised cryptocurrency exchange focused on the African market, allowing users to buy, sell, trade and hold digital assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin and Tether, as well as its own QDX token. The platform offers both an instant buy/sell interface and an order-book exchange with limit and market orders and trading charts, plus staking of supported coins for passive income.
The company describes a mission built around liquidity for a new generation of remittances, targeting lower-cost and faster cross-border transfers, and serves both retail users and business clients. Its product set has expanded over time with additional deposit networks, an Instant Swap feature for converting between coins and fiat, and free bank account deposits and withdrawals for Nigerian users. A separate token ecosystem around QDX includes staking, premium reward cards, a play-to-earn game on BNB Chain called ChainQuest, and a planned multi-chain Telegram trading bot offering fee discounts to QDX holders.
From 2026 the business has been repositioning away from retail-heavy crypto services toward B2B crypto payments and enterprise blockchain infrastructure, including a developer-facing partnership with Lisk, alongside workforce reductions and the closure of its peer-to-peer trading feature.
Founding story
Company listings give a founding year of 2016 with Buchi Okoro and Morris Ebieroma named as founders, while other coverage dates the founding to 2017 and names Buchi Okoro, Uzo Awili and Morris Ebieroma. The digital assets exchange was incorporated in Nigeria in 2018.
Business model
Quidax operates a centralised cryptocurrency exchange serving retail and business customers, with instant buy/sell and order-book trading, staking, swaps and fiat on- and off-ramps through local bank accounts. It has increasingly oriented itself toward business-to-business crypto payments and infrastructure, and maintains a native token, QDX, used for fee discounts, staking rewards and governance participation within its ecosystem.
Revenue is generated from exchange activity such as trading and transaction fees, with QDX holders receiving fee discounts; the company is also developing B2B crypto payment and infrastructure services. One directory estimates annual revenue in the $1M-$10M range.
Traction
A third-party directory estimated roughly 154 employees across three continents and annual revenue of $1M-$10M as of August 2026; press coverage cited more than 100 employees before the March 2026 layoffs. The company obtained one of Nigeria's first two provisional digital asset exchange licences in 2024 and has expanded its product range with swaps, additional deposit networks and free Nigerian bank transfers.
Latest developments
In March 2026 Quidax reduced headcount across sales, design and operations teams, announced at an all-hands meeting on 2 March 2026, with affected staff receiving February salaries and one month of severance; the company publicly attributed the cuts to performance and did not disclose the number affected. In the same period it shut down its peer-to-peer trading feature, increased focus on B2B crypto payments, continued hiring for enterprise sales, and partnered with Lisk to support on-chain developers. Its QDX token ecosystem added live staking, premium cards and a play-to-earn game, with the token listed on Quidax, MEXC, WEEX and PancakeSwap.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Quidax is described as a leading and widely recognised cryptocurrency exchange in Africa and one of Nigeria's best-known crypto platforms. It was one of the first two exchanges, alongside Busha Digital, to receive provisional virtual asset service provider licences from Nigeria's SEC in 2024, in a market that Chainalysis data cited in coverage identifies as Africa's largest Bitcoin market.
Quidax states it was the first crypto exchange to receive a provisional Digital Assets Exchange licence from Nigeria's SEC, one of only two exchanges granted such licences in the first round. It combines a locally regulated fiat on-ramp in Nigeria with an exchange interface aimed at both novice and experienced traders and a native token, QDX, used for fee discounts, staking and governance.
Technology
The platform runs an exchange stack supporting multiple blockchain networks for deposits and withdrawals, instant swaps between crypto and fiat, and staking. The QDX token is a deflationary token with buyback-and-burn mechanics and related products including a staking dApp, NFT-style premium cards, the ChainQuest play-to-earn game on BNB Chain, and a planned multi-chain Telegram trading bot with portfolio analytics and risk scanning. Third-party profiling lists supporting tools including Amazon Web Services, WordPress, Segment, Zendesk, Hotjar and Mailchimp.
Go-to-market
Quidax reaches retail users directly through its exchange app and website with fiat bank rails in Nigeria, supported by blog and academy content, support channels and paid social advertising. It also runs ecosystem programmes such as a Crypto Innovation Pitch offering funding and support to startups, and has been hiring for sales roles tied to enterprise products while building developer partnerships.
Retail crypto traders in Nigeria and across Africa, ranging from first-time buyers to experienced traders, plus business clients needing crypto transactions and cross-border value transfer; increasingly enterprise and developer customers for B2B payments and on-chain infrastructure.
Geography
The company is listed with headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with its principal market and operations in Nigeria and a stated focus on Africa; one directory places staff across Africa, North America and Europe, and describes the Lagos-based platform as one of Nigeria's most recognised crypto services.
History
Sources place the company's founding in 2016 (with founders listed as Buchi Okoro and Morris Ebieroma) or 2017 (with Buchi Okoro, Uzo Awili and Morris Ebieroma named as founders). The exchange incorporated its digital assets exchange in Nigeria in 2018 and worked with Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission on licensing for roughly six years before receiving a provisional licence in 2024. Product expansion followed through 2023 and 2024, including added deposit networks, Instant Swap, free Nigerian bank deposits and withdrawals after the Central Bank of Nigeria lifted its crypto restriction, and new token listings. In March 2026 the company cut staff across sales, design and operations and shut down its peer-to-peer trading feature while pivoting toward enterprise crypto products.
Risks & controversies
The company operates in a Nigerian market that has seen sustained government scrutiny of crypto, including a central bank restriction on crypto transactions later lifted, accusations by officials that exchanges manipulated the naira, and the forced shutdown of several offshore exchanges. Internally, March 2026 layoffs were contested by at least one affected employee who said termination criteria drawn from an internal performance tracking app were unclear and communicated with little notice. Public directory data on the company is inconsistent, with conflicting founding years, headquarters locations and employee counts.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 11
launches, deals, and filingsQuidax announced staff reductions at a company-wide all-hands meeting on 2 March 2026, attributing the cuts to performance. Affected staff were asked to return work tools, and received February salaries plus one month of severance. The company had over 100 employees before the cuts and did not publicly disclose the number affected.
Quidax partnered with Lisk to support developers building on-chain products as part of its enterprise/infrastructure focus.
Quidax discontinued its peer-to-peer trading feature as part of a shift away from retail crypto services toward B2B crypto payments and enterprise infrastructure.
Quidax made staking of its native Quidax Token (QDX) available, alongside premium NFT-style cards, the ChainQuest play-to-earn game on BNB Chain, and a planned multi-chain Telegram trading bot. QDX is listed on Quidax, MEXC, WEEX and PancakeSwap.
Quidax launched a Crypto Innovation Pitch aimed at supporting startups, with over $100,000 in funding and support to be awarded to three selected startups.
$100K source ↗
Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission issued its first operating (provisional) licences to digital asset exchanges Quidax and Busha Digital, placing them in a regulatory incubation process after meeting fit-and-proper-persons tests. Quidax CEO Buchi Okoro said the approval would give Nigerian traders more confidence; the company's Director of Partnerships said Quidax had worked with the SEC on licensing for six years.
To manage rising gas fees on the Bitcoin network, Quidax implemented a minimum deposit of 0.00125 BTC, following an earlier update to BTC deposits.
Following the Central Bank of Nigeria lifting its restriction on cryptocurrency transactions, Quidax introduced free bank account deposits and withdrawals for its Nigerian users.
Quidax launched Instant Swap, a feature allowing users to swap between different coins and fiat currencies in a few steps.
Quidax added additional blockchain networks for crypto deposits.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Quidax exchange review | BTCC Knowledgebtcc.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Quidax do?
- African-focused centralised cryptocurrency exchange, licensed by Nigeria's SEC, now shifting toward B2B crypto payments and infrastructure.
- Who are Quidax's investors?
- Quidax's investors include Techstars.
- Where is Quidax headquartered?
- Quidax is headquartered in Toronto, CA.